A BLOCK of flats in Aberdeen is the first in Scotland to have dangerous cladding removed and replaced as part of a government pilot scheme set up following the Grenfell tragedy.

Extensive construction work was carried out on the nine-storey building to ensure it meets strict fire regulations in the wake of the fire at Grenfell Tower in London.

The Aurora Apartments are one of several ‘high priority’ buildings in Scotland to be identified in the Scottish Government’s pilot programme on cladding remediation as part of the Single Building Assessment.

An extensive survey of the building, which included laser scanning with a drone, was carried out followed by substantial construction works costing £600,000.

Dangerous Cladding Replaced

Existing wall cladding and insulation materials, both of which were combustible, were removed and replaced with fire safe non-combustible products to eliminate the risk of fire spreading over the outside of the building.

The specialised work was carried out by North East Contracts in Arbroath while the residents in the 22 flats remained in their homes.

Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation that banned the use of combustible materials on the outside of all new residential and other “high-risk” buildings taller than 11m (36ft).

The new legislation also applies to recladding works on some other buildings, including the Aurora Apartments.

The work was funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Diamond & Company (Scotland) Ltd Chartered Building Surveyors and Chartered Fire Engineers.

Industry Blueprint

Managing Director Phil Diamond said: “The Grenfell fire exposed a systemic failure in all aspects of cladding installation in buildings throughout the UK.

“The completion of the work on the Aurora apartments in Aberdeen now provides an industry blueprint on how to make similar high-rise buildings much less vulnerable in the event of a fire.

“The new non-combustible cladding is the highest standard on the market, stopping any fire from spreading over the outside of the building.

“If there was a serious fire in one of the flats it would not be able to spread over the outside of the building because the cladding is non-combustible, meaning there is no energy for the fire to feed off.

“It was an extremely challenging project which involved opening up the building and removing the timber support frame and other combustible materials.

“We used a drone with laser scanning to survey the building, and surrounding area, to help us produce detailed architectural drawings to plan the work required to make the block of flats safer.

“We are now moving ahead with similar projects across Scotland and the rest of the UK and look forward to the completion of other remediation works in the coming years.”

Cladding Remediation Act

Housing Minister Paul McLennan added: “This is a very important moment for owners and residents and I was pleased to visit Aurora Apartments earlier this month to meet with those involved. The Scottish Government has provided £600,000 funding for the complex and innovative work at this building.

“The remedial work that has been carried out at this site builds on the recent passage of the Cladding Remediation Act which will support our efforts to make buildings safer and to safeguard homeowners and residents across Scotland.”

Cladding refers to an external covering used on buildings. A law to ban combustible cladding on high-risk buildings, and the highest risk metal composite cladding material from all buildings, was passed by the Scottish Parliament in April 2022.

This was implemented by amendments to the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004, introduced on 1 June 2022, which bans the use of combustible materials on domestic high-rise buildings above 36ft (11m), care homes and hospitals.

The Single Building Assessment (SBA) identifies life-critical fire safety risks and any mitigation or remediation required to make a building safer. The Aurora Apartments was identified to test the SBA as part of the government pilot programme.

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